Inspiring Conversations with Story Balcom of TrueBlue Talent

Today we’d like to introduce you to Story Balcom.

Story, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I come from a creative family of professional musicians but film and advertising always appealed more to me. I started modeling at 16 for local brands and was on my first film set at 21. That segued into commercials- a blend of acting and modeling that I really connected with. It’s hard, though, to consistently book commercial gigs if you don’t live in LA or NYC. So, I started working more with experiential marketing as a promo model or brand ambassador and that just became my “thing.” I loved playing a different role every day and learning about industries I’d never know about otherwise. One day I’d be at an expo talking to long haul truckers about the latest semis and the next, ghost writers for political authors. The psychology behind marketing, especially at live events, just fascinated me too. I worked my way up and made a lot of great connections until the natural next step was starting my own agency.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not. My whole job is development and management over a team including hundreds of brand ambassadors, photographers, servers, tour guides, and anyone else a client may need. Some of them I’ve worked with for years and some I just interviewed the day before for an event hundreds of miles away and that can get stressful. Most managers work with the same team and know exactly what to expect from them. I had to get really good at reading people in a short period of time and trusting that I’ve prepared them to do the best job possible.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
TrueBlue Talent is an agency that specializes in experiential marketing- the set up and staffing of live events. Our models and brand ambassadors represent companies and bring awareness to their brands. I’ve been in this industry for half my life and the biggest complaint I saw from both the client and talent side was a lack of streamlined communication and preparation. You’re hiring an agency to bring you people who represent your company and they should be as ready for that as possible. Instead of just getting a list of specs and sending people who fit the look, I spend time with the client going over their vision and goals and work with them on finding any ways we can maximize those efforts. Should we bring in a photographer to update your team’s headshots? I have a few to pick from. Can we tighten graphics on this banner? One of our team members can work with you on that. I’m also really proud that I’m on site working alongside my staff as much as possible. It makes the whole process more streamlined and helps both sides feel more comfortable in a situation that can otherwise feel like an awkward first date.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://truebluetalentmgmt.com